Industrial truck



arch M, 1941; M s m 2,234,851

INDUSTRIAL TRUCK Filed April 20, new Sheets-Sheet. 1

i mmrm. Ma Mid 195F565 y/wmzw A TTORNEK March 11, 1941.

K. O. ASPER INDUSTRIAL TRUCK Filed April 20, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Mia/Pia ASP/5e? ATTORNEY.

Patcnted Mar. 11,1941

PATENT OFFICE INDUSTRIAL TRUCK Kaare 0. Aspc'r, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, assignor to Clark Equipment Company, Buchanan, Micin, a corporation of Michigan. 1- Application April 20, 1939 Serial No." 268,869 r dfllaims. ,(Cl. 214-113) This invention relates .to-industrial trucks, and" more particularly is directed to trucks of this typeadapted for'transporting, lifting and-tiering goods, wares and merchandise in factories,

, warehouses, shipping docksand the like.

The present invention concerns itself particularly with the provision of an improved construction of load supporting carriage which facilitates the tlering of the truck incongested areas. and' 10, allows a reduction in the over-all length of the truck when required for various purposes.

In particular, the present invention is directed to a load supporting carriage which is mounted for vertical movement upon a pair ofpivotally mounted uprights or. guides, these guides being arranged for tilting movement forwardly and rearwardly of a normal vertical position. The

carriage is guided-on rollers engagin suitable guide surfaces'on the uprights, and includes a 20 pair of lift fingers or foo-ks which maybe lnsorted under the load to transfer the same to the carriage for moving the load to any desired location. l j i In the majority of such trucksw-ith which I 2 am familiar the fingers are mounted so as to project forwardly of thevehicle, and are arranged in laterally spaced positlonwith means provided for varying the lateral spacing of the'fingers.

However, the forwardly extending portions of the 30 fingers increase materially the. over-all length of the truck andthereby decrease its maneuverability in'narrow passageways or in turning corners. v

One object of the present invention is to pro- 35 vide a construction in which lift fingers are mounted on the load supporting carriage in such manner that they may be rotated about a vertical pivot to move the forwardly extending portions-thereof angularly and thereby decrease the over-all length of the vehicle when desired for movement in congested areas.

Another object of the present invention is to l lw de a lift fingers are supported in such manner asto be 4.5 capable of rocking movement in a horizontal plane with respect to the 'suppontin'g plate of the carriase and are provided with means normally restoring the fingers toa forwardly extending position when the turning force is re- 7 50 moved,

sun another object, or the present invention is to provide a construction of this type which is simple in design, economical, and is adapted to he installed on lift trucks now in use'wlthout 55 any. radical changes inthe construction.

finger construction in which the Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear inore fully 'fromthe following detailed description which, taken in conjunction; with the accompanying drawings, will disclose to=those skilled in the art the particular construction and operation of a preferred form of thepresent invention.

In the drawings: I

Fi ure 1 is a perspective view of an industrial truck embodying the present invention; 10 Figure 2 is -a-.-side elevatlonal view, partly in section,*of the construction shown in Figure '1; and

Figure 3'i's a top planview of one of the lift finger assemblies.

Referring now'in detail to the drawings, an industrial truck is indicated generallyat 5 and is provided at its forward end with the drive wheels 6 adjacent which are pivoted the load supporting uprights or' guides I, in this embodi-- ment of the invention these guides comprising channels mounted in fixed lateral relationship and having telescoping channels i secured therev into increase the lifting height of the truck.

Between the channels I is mounted a hydraulic cylinder! carrying at its upper end the cross head it having sprocket wheels over which are trained the lift chains II.

One end of these chains is anchored to the rear portion .of the uprights, and the opposite ends thereof .are' connected to afload-support: ing carriage, indicated generally at II. This car-- .riage may, in its general construction. be; similar to that shown in the patent of Elmer J. Dunham, No. 2,178,367, and preferably has a front vertical plate ll which is mounted in fixed relationship on the carriage and is movable therewith vertically with respect to the uprights I and I.

Rearwardly of the uprights and drive wheels 8 is an operator's seat I! from which the oper- 40 star may control the raising and lowering lever Ii; and the tilting lever l1 controlling the movement of the carriage ll and the uprights and 8, and the gear shift lever I! by which the move-' ment of the'vehicle is controlled; A suitabie' steering post 2| is provided having the steerin wheel 22 conncted'to the rear steering wheels upon the plate l4, reference is made to Figures 2 and 3. The plate l4 has secured to the front face thereof two transversely extending plates 35 and 38 arranged in vertically spaced relation. 5 These plates may be secured to the plate 84 by means of countersunk set screws, rivets, or the like. Welded to the transverse plate 35 is a pair of brackets 31 which are bored to receive the pivot pin or rod 38 extending therethrough. Similarly, the transversely extending plate 35 has brackets 39 carried thereby which are also suitably apertured to receive the lower ends of the rod 38. Suit-able locking screws 4i! are provided in each of the brackets to lock the rod 38 against longitudinal movement with respect thereto.

Adjacent its upper end 'the rod 35 is provided with a suitable bushing 52 which may be of bronze or the like, which forms a bearing for the bracket arm 43. The arm 43 is of clevis type having the extending ear portions 4% which are suitably apertured to receive a transversely extending pin 45 projecting therethrough and through a corresponding aperture in the upper end of the lift finger 25. Thus, the lift finger 25 is pivotally mounted between the ears id upon the pin 45 and depends therefrom. A corre sponding bushing 46 is provided adjacent the lower end of the rod 38 above the bracket 39 to form abearing support for the bracket arm 47 which is of similar U-shaped construction, but merely serves as a guide or. a lateral. restraining means for the lower portion of the 'vertical part of the lift finger 25. Mounted between the bushing 48, bracket arm 41 and the supporting bracket 39.15 a thrust washer 48, which takes the load at this point.

The upper surface of the bracket 31 is slabbed off at an angle, as indicated at 56, and a suitable correspondingly angled thrust washer 52 is so provided between the surface 58 and the under surface of the bushing 42 and arm 43. This bushv ing is pinned for conjoint rotation with the bracket 43 by means of a pair of dowels 53 extending therebetween on opposite sides of the 45 pivot rod 38. By reason of this construction the washer 52 rotates with the bushing 42,- and thus has a tendency to ride up the tapered surface 50 of the bracket 31 when the lift fingers are rotated in either direction about the post 38.

50 Due to this construction, the liftfingers 25 normally tend to returnto a forwardly extending position, and thus when the turning force on these fingers is removed, they will re-assemble their normal position extending forwardly of the plate 55 N. If desired, suitable spring means might be employed for this purpose, but it has been found that this angled surface is sufficient to insure the return of the fingers to their normal forwardly extending position.

5 As shown in'dotted lines in Figure 3, the fingers have an allowable swinging movement of approximately 45 degrees with respect to the plate I4, and can be rocked in either direction with respect to a line normal to the plate 14. This allows the vehicle, when there is no load on the fingers 25, to turn around corners that would otherwise be impossible, and to move in congested areas with a smaller oven-all lengththan is normally possible in a truck of this type. It will be apparent that the fingers, by reason of the forwardly extending portions, are normally biased about the pivot pins 45 in such manner that the vertical shank portions of the fingers will remain within the arms of the lower bracket fill and thus be held against possible lateral movement and consequent undue stress on the pin 45.

Inasmuch as the plateifl used in the present invention corresponds to and is substantially identical with plates of this type now employed in I of the details of construction, I do not intend to be limited except as defined by the sc'ope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim: e

1. A. load supporting carriage for a lift truck comprising a vertically extending plate, a pair of vertically extending shafts secured to the forward face of the plate,- a pair of lift fingers, channelshaped bracket means engaging said fingers and journalled in vertically spaced relation on said shafts providingfor limited rotation of said fingers about said shafts, and cam means so constructed and arranged that the weight of said fingers normally urges said fingers into a position at right angles to the plane of said plate.

2. In combination, in a lift truck having a load-supporting carriage, a fixed vertical shaft, vertically spaced means supporting said shaft forwardly of the carriage, axially spaced bushings thereon, brackets carried on said bushings having forwardly projecting U-shaped portions, an- L-shaped lift finger having its vertical portion received in said U-shaped portions of said brackets, transverse pin means extending through one of said brackets and the associated portion comprising a vertically extending plate, a pair of vertically extending shafts secured to the forward face of the plate, a. pair of lift fingers, and'cham' nel-shaped bracket means engaging said fingers and journalled in vertically spaced relation on said shafts providing for limited rotation of said fingers about said shafts, said journalling means support for the upper ends of said fingers. 4. In combination, a vertically extending plate,

a pair of brackets secured to and projecting forwardly of said plate, a vertical shaft carried by said brackets, a-pair of U-shaped arms journalledincluding means providing a transverse plvotal 5 

